Success Stories
The purpose of Integración Juvenil is to improve their education and health and offer them a welcoming place where they feel that they are valued and loved. For participants who have dropped out of school, there is a school remediation program that enables them to return to the public education system with a new motivation.
GREGORIO RAMON DEL ROSARIO
Gregorio attended Integración Juvenil from 1984 until 1987. When he was 12, he was shining shoes in Puerto Plata’s central park. He had gone to school up to 5th grade, and had no plans of going back.
The educators at Integración invited him to come and get to know the program, and he decided to participate. After his three years that he spent with Integración Juvenil, he was able to begin his first year of high-school, where he stayed through graduation. He has since graduated college with a degree in Communications from the prestigious University Of Technology of Santiago (UTESA). He currently works as a radio announcer on Radio Puerto Plata and as messenger of Banco Nacional de Credito. Gregorio has grown to be a kind and confident man, and with much humility and a great smile he expresses his satisfaction and thanks for the time he spent with Integración Juvenil.
SANDRA ALTAGRACIA ROBINZON
When Integración Juvenil encountered the young Sandra, her self-esteem and outlook on life was grim. “When I began at Integración Juvenil, I was 10 and dad had abandoned us,” Sandra explains. “It was there that I found a refuge, care, and I was taught so many things that have served to give a stable life.” Among other things, she attests to having learned how to sew, knit, and to interact healthily with other children – a tool she had never been given the chance to hone before. Today, she is 28 years old, and has a happy family. She also works on the Free-Trade Zone of Puerto Plata using some of the concrete skills she learned at Integración Juvenil.
Sandra adds: “Everything I learned at Integración Juvenil, I teach (to the kids) today.”
JOSE ANDRES RIVERA
Andres works as an independent photographer and contributes regularly to Puerto Plata’s newspaper, El Faro. Today, he is married with two children, Nicole Andreina, and Mariagelis. “One day when I was 12 during a visit that the educators of Integración Juvenil made to my barrio, they selected me and invited me to participate with them in their program. I remember all that I went on to learn because it was a lot of fun for me; we learned to enjoy ourselves.
There was a game about synonyms where you became Doctor of Languages if you won, which was part of a workshop called ‘I’m an artist, too.’ We played listening to music by Bach, and I learned a lot, as well – grammar, classical music, among others. I am very thankful for all that I received in Integración Juvenil.”